YFI to put anti-divestment petition on new Web site

Yale Friends of Israel, or YFI, will issue an anti-divestment petition that will be available on the Web site www.yaledontdivest.org in the next few days.

The petition condemns the national divestment campaign for not supporting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and for not acknowledging terror in the current conflict.

“[The divestment petition] makes no mention of the widespread desire within Israel for a long-term and just solution with the Palestinian people, nor of previous attempts to achieve a peaceful settlement,” the anti-divestment petition states. “Instead, the petition condemns only Israel in an attempt to cripple its economy and isolate it from the international community.”

The petition emphasizes that signatories have different ideas on how to achieve peace in the Middle East and different views about the Israeli government.

“No matter where you are on the political spectrum, you can condemn divestment,” YFI member Zvika Krieger ’06 said.

Organizers stressed that this petition is different from the one YFI began circulating approximately two months ago, which supported the United States’ relationship with Israel. That petition garnered 2,000 signatures on the Yale campus, Krieger said.

The petition comes less than a week after the Yale Divest from Israel Campaign issued its own petition urging Yale to divest from corporations that conduct business in Israel.